Question 1

Why is it que préfèrent les visiteurs and not que les visiteurs préfèrent?

Accepted Answer

This is a stylistic inversion. In French relative clauses starting with que, you can flip the noun subject (les visiteurs) and the verb (préfèrent). It means exactly the same thing but sounds a bit more elegant and is very common in written or formal French.

Question 2

How can I tell that les visiteurs is the subject and not the object?

Accepted Answer

The relative pronoun que is always a direct object (representing the garden here), which means the clause still needs a subject. Because French uses que instead of qui, we know the garden isn't doing the action. Therefore, les visiteurs must be the subject, despite coming after the verb.

Question 3

Can I always invert the subject and verb in a que relative clause?

Accepted Answer

You can only do this when the subject is a noun or a full noun phrase, like les visiteurs or mon ami. You cannot use this type of stylistic inversion if the subject is a pronoun like ils or elles. For example, you must say qu'ils préfèrent and never que préfèrent-ils.

Question 4

Why does préfèrent have a grave accent (è) when the infinitive is préférer?

Accepted Answer

This is a common stem-changing verb rule. For verbs ending in -érer, the second-to-last accent changes from acute (é) to grave (è) whenever the final syllable is silent. Since the -ent ending in the ils/elles form is silent, préférer becomes préfèrent.

Nous visitons le jardin botanique que préfèrent les visiteurs.

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